Lawyers and podcasting

I saw an interesting little tidbit within last Thursday afternoon's ABA TECHSHOW's "60 Marketing Tips In 60 Minutes" session. At number 45:

If You Don't Have Time To Blog, Make Time To Podcast

I couldn't agree more. It seems to me that the best bloggers post every day (note to self... follow your own advice!). To podcast well, depending on the niche, one could produce a show once per week or even once per month. Lawyers considering a new marketing strategy could actually spend less time producing a podcast, yet still stand out in the crowd.

the charts were indeed bumrushed

While Bumrush the Charts did not manage to push unsigned artist Black Lab to #1, it certainly pushed a bunch of sales. Number 11 in the US, number 10 in Canada, and number 2 in The Netherlands. Details are here.

Interesting experiment... it certainly gained some mainstream attention, but I think it's an open question whether it will be viewed as a gimmick or an actual representation of the potential of podcasting marketing power. To be continued...

Podcast stats revisted

A few days ago I posted about Paul Colligan's report on podcast statistics... he's come back today linking to the final report by Edison Media Research. Check out the report here. More knowledge, but flattening consumption... for now. That "feels" like the right answer based on my anecdotal experiences. There is still a gap between ease of use and the mainstream audience, but I am positive that will change...

Podcasting moving music sales

Today's Washington Post features the grassroots Bum Rush the Charts movement in the podcasting community that just might carry some independent artists into the mainstream, thanks to the marketing muscle of podcasters.

We all know that podcasting can light a fire one listener at a time... but can it move enough people to buy a single track in the iTunes Music Store to unseat the likes of Beyonce, Avril Levine and other artists sitting at the top of the sales pack? For the sake of innovation, and for the sake of proving podcasting marketing muscle, I'm all for it.

I've never heard the track they chose, but it's Mine Again by Black Lab. I'll certainly be plunking my 99 cents down to bum rush the charts... by the way, the a lot of the funds earned on this track will be going towards a scholarship fund... check out Bum Rush the Charts for more info.

HGTV and testing the Podcast Factory

One of my clients, Kimberly Wilson of Hip Tranquil Chick podcast, is going to be featured on HGTV's I Want That!: Tech Toys. She'll be taking a look at the M-Audio Podcast Factory, a software-hardware package that includes a simple mixer with a USB connection and a dynamic microphone... all in one. My initial reaction is that a dynamic mic isn't as warm sounding as a cardioid, but I'll hold off judgment until I hear the sound quality. I definitely like that the included software is both Mac and Windows compatible. Should be an interesting test drive... we tape next week!

Promising new Mac software

Check out Übercaster... this looks like a major improvement for Mac podcast producers. I've never been terribly impressed with Garageband as a production tool, and have pretty much stuck with Audacity since I can keep my brain on one track, whether working in Windows or Mac. Übercaster might get me to shift as soon as I upgrade my Powerbook G4 to OS X Tiger. (yeah, I know... it's been out forever and is about to be supplanted. Yadda yadda yadda...).

Prices go up in a couple of weeks... I'll see what I can do about reviewing it sometime before that happens.

iTunes for Windows

Looks like Apple has been fixing some bugs in iTunes for Windows... this is a good thing. Although I've not had too many problems when I've used it on a Windows box, I've heard a lot of horror stories. Since so many podcasts are consumed via Windows computers, and most of them are through iTunes, this is good newss for podcasters.